Identity crisis
by OswinHardy
Summary: A demon arrives in the attic with an agenda, but reading from the book takes a much different turn that either he or Oswin expected. I don't own Charmed, blah blah blah, you know the drill.
1. Chapter 1

Oswin sat in the middle of the floor in the attic, absently flipping through the pages of a copy of the book, one Piper had made, so Oswin could learn from the book too. It was a little past 3am and she was having trouble sleeping. She found it relaxing to look through the many passages and entries in the newly dubbed _NoteBook of Shadows_ and would often sit up in the attic with it when she was stressed out or couldn't sleep. She wasn't sure why, but the notebook seemed to relax her. It may have been the fact that it connected her to many generations of witches.

She crossed her legs and leaned back against a nearby box. She stifled a yawn and ran her fingers along the page that held the spell that had given her cousins their powers. Large, hand-written letters spelled out 'A spell for invoking the power of three' at the top of the page. The door of the attic opened slowly, startling Oswin enough to make the notebook fall out of her lap. Prue wandered into the room, arms crossed and still half-asleep.

"Oswin," she yawned. "What are you doing up here? It's three in the morning." She walked over to the sofa that Oswin was leaning against and sat down.

"I know," Oswin sighed. She lifted the notebook up off of the floor and put it back in her lap. "I couldn't sleep."

"Is Derrik snoring again?" asked Prue. She leaned over Oswin's shoulder and looked down at the notebook.

"A little bit," replied Oswin. She leaned back against Prue's leg and looked up at her cousin. "Actually, a lot. Did I wake you?" Prue shook her head and pulled a blanket that was folded over the arm of the sofa around her shoulders.

"No," replied Prue. "Derrik did." Both sisters smiled Oswin got up and placed the NoteBook of Shadows back on its shelf.

"Sorry," she said softly. "I've tried to get him to where those nasal strip thingies, but he said there's no way he'd be caught dead wearing them."

"That's funny," said Prue sarcastically.

"Not funny," Oswin groaned. She grabbed Prue's hands and helped her to her feet. "Come, you should go back to bed. You have to work in a few hours." Prue groaned and walked slowly toward the door of the attic. She looked back at Oswin and shrugged.

"Are you coming?" Prue asked. Oswin nodded and crossed her arms.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'll be down in a bit." Prue raised one eyebrow, then turned and left the attic. Oswin listened to her cousin's footsteps move down the stairs, into the corridor, and into her bedroom. As soon as she heard Prue shut her door, she opened the NoteBook of Shadows and looked down at one of the spells that had been entered into the book centuries ago. "To swap identities?" she read sceptically with one eyebrow raised. The notebook suddenly flew out of her hands and landed on the floor across the room. "What the…"

An arm suddenly wrapped around her, holding her arms down and preventing her from using her powers. Another hand quickly covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. The demon holding her forced her closer to the book, just far enough that the book didn't feel threatened.

"This is perfect," the demon beamed. He looked down at identity spell that Oswin had just been looking at. The demon quickly chanted the spell that was scribbled across the page. Both he and Oswin were illuminated in a bright white, which lit the dark attic. Within a few seconds, the two of them stopped glowing and the room was dark once again. The demon let go of Oswin and stood back, looking at her with an evil grin.

"What did you do?" Oswin snapped. She ran over to the mirror to make sure she hadn't changed.

"This was too easy," the demon laughed. He approached the book confidently, expecting it to think he was Oswin. The book, however, couldn't be fooled. It slammed shut and slid across the floor, over to Oswin.

"Piper! Prue! Phoebe! Derrik!" Oswin called. She stared angrily at the demon. His smile faded and he suddenly looked worried.

"What the hell!" he snapped. "Why didn't that work?"

"You just pissed off the wrong witch, buddy," Oswin growled. She put her left hand up to freeze him in ice, but ended up encasing herself in ice. The demon looked at Oswin then inspected himself to make sure he wasn't frozen. He walked over to Oswin and looked at her in disbelief. He waved one hand in front of her face, just to make sure she really was frozen.

"Well, this is interesting," the demon laughed heartily. "This isn't what I had planned, but it could definitely have some benefits." He could hear the sound of hurried footsteps rushing up the stairs toward the attic. He took another look at Oswin, and then shimmered out of the room before the Charmed Ones could see him.

"Oh my god, Oswin," Phoebe gasped. She ran over to her cousin and tried shaking her to unfreeze her.

"Why is she frozen?" Prue asked in disbelief. "Derrik, how is she frozen?" Derrik moved quickly over to Oswin and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I don't know," replied Derrik. "She's a good witch. She isn't supposed to freeze. Plus, it's her ice, I don't know how this happened." He moved his hands around her and tried to warm her, but nothing happened. "Besides the fact that she's frozen, I think she's ok."

"So, this should wear off, right?" asked Prue. "I mean, when Oswin freezes things it tends to wear off after awhile."

"Well, I hope so," said Derrik. "But we don't know what did this. It's not like she can ice herself. Something demonic had to have happened to her."

"What do we do?" asked Phoebe. "We can't just leave her here like this." Derrik nodded.

"You two stay with her until she unfreezes," Derrik instructed. "I need to do something." He ran out of the room without waiting for a conformation from the girls. Phoebe, Piper and Prue stood silently, staring at their motionless cousin.


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell happened?!" asked Oswin. It didn't take long for her to unice, but she was left confused as to how the demon had escaped and how her cousins had suddenly appeared beside her. She was used to being the person to ice other people. She'd never been on the receiving end before. Prue, Piper and Phoebe gently led Oswin over to one of the sofas and forced her to sit down.

"You were iced," replied Prue. "Although, we're not exactly sure how that happened."

"The demon must have my power," said Oswin. "I was about to ice him, but he must have beat me to the punch." Phoebe looked over at the NoteBook of Shadows, which was still on the floor. She stood up and walked over to retrieve it, then placed it back on its shelf.

"Do you know which demon it was?" asked Piper. Oswin shook her head.

"I've never seen him before," replied Oswin. "But he's definitely a threat. He kinda got to the NoteBook of Shadows. He grabbed me before I could ice him and read one of the spells from the notebook."

"What?" Phoebe gasped. "Demons aren't supposed to be able to get to the notebook. How did he manage to read one of our spells?"

"He must have had really good eyesight," replied Oswin. "He got as close as he could before the notebook could move and read the spell."

"Do you think it worked?" Phoebe asked. "What kind of spell was it?" She walked back to the sofa and sat beside Oswin.

"Well obviously it worked," replied Oswin. "He has my power, doesn't he? But it was an identity spell that he read, so I don't understand why he got my power and not my identity."

"It must have backfired," replied Prue. "He may have read it wrong or maybe our spells don't work the same when they're chanted by evil."

"Did he take your power away or just clone it?" Piper asked. Oswin looked around the room for something to ice. Just at that moment, Derrik walked in. Oswin took advantage of her target and iced Derrik in place once he had completely entered.

"I still got it," Oswin grinned. She wiggled her fingers and uniced Derrik.

"I have no idea who attacked Oswin" said Derrik. He obviously had no idea that he had just been frozen. "I contacted a source, and they have no idea who attacked Oswin or how she ended up frozen."

"What a surprise," Prue grumbled softly under her breath, thinking about this mysterious 'source'.

"As much as I would love to start demon-hunting," said Oswin. "Everyone is tired and I think it would be best if we got some rest before hitting the books. It's probably not a good idea to go after demons on no sleep."

"Good idea," said Piper. "We'll figure out who this demon is first thing in the morning. For now, let's all go back to bed." She stood up and looked back at Oswin. "All of us." Oswin nodded and followed everyone back downstairs. She and Derrik crawled into bed and tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately, sleep came easier for Derrik than it did for Oswin. The second Derrik had fallen asleep the room became filled with the sound of his snoring. Oswin rolled onto her side and let out and exasperated sigh.

The three sisters and their cousin stood in the attic, staring down at the Book – a common occurrence in the Halliwell household. Prue flipped through the pages, waiting for Oswin to pick out one of the demons that could match the description of the one she had faced the previous night. Having had very little sleep, Oswin was having a hard time focusing on the book. Her head began dropping forward as she started to fall asleep, but she quickly snapped back to attention. Phoebe looked at her and frowned.

"Honey, did you sleep at all last night?" Phoebe asked. She walked over to Oswin's side and wrapped her arms around Oswin's waist.

"No," Oswin groaned. "I tried, but his snoring is getting worse." She let her head fall back against Phoebe's shoulder. "I need sleep!" she pretended to whine.

"We'll just look through the last couple hundred pages of the Book, then you can go back to bed," said Prue. She tapped the open book impatiently. Oswin groaned and stared down at the pages of the Book of Shadows as Prue continued to flip through the pages.

"Is that him?" Prue asked. She stopped turning the pages and pointed at an illustration. Oswin glanced at the picture and crossed her arms.

"Sure," she replied, completely uninterested. Prue looked at her cousin and frowned. Oswin quickly avoided eye contact. She knew a Prue-lecture was coming.

"Oswin," Prue snapped. "Can you at least try to focus for a second. This is important. A demon was able to come into the attic and read from your, NoteBook of Shadows, not to mention clone your power. This demon could pose a serious threat to us. He…" Oswin quickly cupped her hand over Prue's mouth to stop her from talking.

"I know. I'm sorry," said Oswin. "Let's continue, shall we?" Phoebe grinned and let go of Oswin. She took over for Prue, turning the next couple of pages in the book. Oswin looked back at the book as images of demon-after-demon flashed passed her. "Wait!" she said suddenly, startling her cousins. She went back a few pages in the book and pointed at the picture of the demon that she had faced the previous night.

"That's him?" asked Piper.

"Yep, that's him," replied Oswin happily. "Corr, an upper-level demon with the ability to throw fireballs and energy balls. Blah blah, blah. No vanquishing info."

"Blah, blah, blah?" Prue asked. "Do you think you could have a little more enthusiasm?"

"No," replied Oswin abruptly. "I'm tired and I'm starting to get a little cranky." Prue looked through the information about Corr and stopped to examine his picture.

"You go to bed," said Phoebe. She walked behind Oswin and forced her toward the door of the attic. "We know who we're up against now, so Piper, Prue and I will work on a vanquish while you get some rest."

"Thank you," said Oswin. She looked back at Prue. "Is that all right with you?" Prue looked up from the book and nodded.

"Sure, no problem," replied Prue. "Have a nice sleep." Oswin stared at Prue, making sure she wasn't going to be pissed off with her leaving, then turned and walked downstairs to her bedroom. She flopped onto her bed just as Derrik walked into the room. She looked back at him and groaned.

"I am not in the mood to go fight any demons or warlocks or whatever it is." said Oswin. Derrik smiled and slid onto the bed beside Oswin. He wrapped his arm around her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I kept you up again, didn't I?" he asked. Oswin nodded. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I wish there was something I could do."

"I bought you a pack of nasal strips," Oswin suggested. She turned her head to look up at him with a huge, pleading smile on her face.

"Yep, I really wish there was something I could do," said Derrik, completely ignoring Oswin's last comment. Oswin elbowed him in the stomach, just hard enough to prove a point. Derrik laughed and squeezed her tighter.

Phoebe walked quietly downstairs and into the parlor. She had left Piper and Prue to come up with a vanquish on her own to avoid butting heads. Phoebe figured it was best to just stay out of the way. Piper and Prue like to work on stuff like that without Phoebe. She flopped onto the sofa and turned on the TV. As she flipped absently through channels, Corr shimmered in beside her.

Startled, Phoebe jumped off of the sofa and put her fists up; ready to attack him as soon as he stood up. Corr stood up and grinned deviously at Phoebe.

"That's it?" he asked. "What, you're going to hit me? What kind of witch are you?"

"One that can seriously kick your ass," replied Phoebe. She stepped forward and kicked Corr in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall and causing him to break one of the coffee tables. Corr got back to his feet and wiped himself off, completely unfazed by the attack.

"Didn't even hurt," he chuckled. "This definitely proves my suspicions."

"What are you talking about," asked Phoebe, her fists were still raised and ready to attack again.

Upstairs, Oswin leapt off of the bed and gasped for breath. She felt as though something had just knocked the wind out of her. She grasped at her dresser and desperately tried to catch her breath. Derrik quickly stood up and walked over to Oswin. She instinctively pushed him away and tried to walk out of the room. Derrik grabbed Oswin by the wrist and pulled her back into the room.

"Don't touch me," Oswin gasped. The expression on her face was full of panic. Derrik forced her to sit on the bed and tried to help whatever it was that was wrong with her. Unable to help her, he stood back and waited for Oswin to start breathing normally. Once she was feeling normal again, she looked up at Derrik and frowned. "What the hell was that?" she asked. Derrik shrugged and sat beside her.

Back downstairs, Phoebe was interrogating the demon, which was looking far more entertained than she felt was necessary. He crossed his arms and smiled maliciously.

"Come on witch," he mocked. "Do it again." He held his arms out and gestured for her to attack him again. Phoebe looked at him with disgust. Noticing the stand of fireplace tools next to her, she grabbed the poker and threw it at him. The poker pierced through Corrs abdomen with little difficulty. The two of them heard Oswin cry out upstairs. Phoebe looked back at Corr and watched as he smiled and examined the end of the poker that was sticking out through his back.

Upstairs, Oswin stared in shock at her shirt, which was becoming saturated with blood. She grabbed her stomach with one hand and looked up at Derrik, who was in just as much shock as she was.

"Oh my god, Oswin," Derrik gasped. He forced her back onto the bed, pulled Oswin's hand away from her stomach, and lifted her shirt enough to see the wound. Trembling, Oswin raised her hand and stared at her blood-soaked fingers. Derrik shouted out for Piper and Leo.

"Piper! Leo!" He watched as Leo orbed in and Piper and Prue ran into the room. "Heal her. Now." Leo moved quickly over to the bed, and help out his hands over Oswin.

"Dammit!" he snapped angrily when his powers refused to work. He looked back at Oswin, who was beginning to lose the colour in her face. Derrik took her hand to keep her from looking at it and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "It's going to be ok," said Derrik as calmly as possible.

Corr examined the poker that was piercing through his body. "Nice one," he chuckled, looking back at Phoebe. "I'll bet you were expecting me to burst into flames and disappear, weren't you?" Phoebe looked completely confused. Corr grabbed the handle of the poker and quickly pulled it out. Phoebe flinched as Oswin screamed from upstairs.

"What did you do?" Phoebe asked. Corr tossed the poker to the floor and pulled his shirt up to examine his abdomen. It was completely flawless with no sign of ever being pierced. There was no sign of blood anywhere.

"Don't look at me," said Corr. "You did it." He smiled and shimmered out of the room. Phoebe looked around the room to make sure he was gone, then ran upstairs to check on Oswin.


	3. Chapter 3

When Phoebe reached Oswin and Derrik's bedroom, Prue, Piper, Leo and Derrik were already tending to Oswin. Oswin was lying on her bed, surrounded by blood, which was steadily escaping her body. Even after all of the demon fighting they've done, Oswin was still quite squeamish around blood, especially her own, and Phoebe could see her starting to panic.

"Don't look at it sweetie," said Prue calmly. She pushed a towel that she had grabbed from the bathroom onto Oswin's abdomen to slow the bleeding.

"We need to get her to a hospital and fast!" Piper demanded as Oswin began to tremble uncontrollably. "Can you still orb?"

"I hope so," replied Leo. He looked down at his cousin-in-law who was staring blankly at the ceiling. He could tell she was going into shock and needed medical attention as soon as possible. He quickly pictured a place at the hospital in his mind where they could orb in unnoticed.

"Wait!" exclaimed Phoebe suddenly, finally getting over the shock of seeing Oswin. She ran over to Leo and grabbed his hand so that she could orb to the hospital with them. The room was illuminated in a bright, white light as the 6 of them orbed out to the hospital, then returned to its normal state.

They appeared in an empty corridor at San Francisco Memorial Hospital without being seen. Derrik lifted Oswin into his arms and carried her to the reception desk. Two nurses wheeled a gurney over to them and rushed Oswin into one of the emergency rooms. Derrik, Piper, Leo, Prue, and Phoebe raced after them and tried to stay out of the way of the doctors while still comforting Oswin. Derrik grabbed Oswin's hand.

"Honey, you're so cold," said Derrik. He cupped Oswin's hand between his and pulled it close to his face. He gently kissed her fingers and looked, sympathetically, down at Oswin. She had no colour left in her face and her lips were beginning to turn blue.

"What have we got?" asked one of the doctors once they'd reached the ER.

"Penetration of the lower right abdomen," stated one of the ER nurses. "BP is ninety over fifty, pulse ox is low."

"Start a central line," shouted another doctor. "Get me four litres of O neg."

"Oswin's AB negative," Prue interjected. None of the ER staff paid any attention to her.

"What happened?" asked one of the doctors as he and the rest of the emergency staff worked together to stabilize Oswin. Phoebe stared at the doctor, not knowing if she had an answer for him or her family. The wound was exactly the same as the wound that Corr should have received from her attack, but she couldn't understand how Oswin ended up with it.

"We have no idea," replied Derrik. "One minute we were standing in the middle of our bedroom and the next minute she was like this."

"Entry and exit wounds are similar in size," announced the head nurse. "Puncture wound is from some type of acicular rod or pole,"

"We're going to need to do a laparotomy," shouted another doctor.

"I don't understand," said Derrik, looking over at Prue in disbelief. "We were alone in the room. Nothing went through her." All of the doctors and nurses looked at Derrik suspiciously.

"Mr. Sanders, I'm going to have to ask you and your friends to leave," said the head doctor. "But don't leave the premises. We're going to need you to answer a few questions."

"No," Oswin whimpered, squeezing Derrik's hand with the little energy she had. "Derrik didn't do it," she said through clenched teeth.

"Miss Hardy, we need you relax," said the head nurse, attempting to calm Oswin down. "Everything is going to be all right."

"I'm not leaving her," said Derrik. "Neither are her cousins."

"I'm afraid you all need to leave," said the doctor. "We do not allow family in the room during surgery." He gestured toward the doorway where two security guards were standing. They walked into the room and waited for their cue to take Phoebe, Piper, Leo, Prue, and Derrik out of the room. Phoebe chewed at her fingernail nervously. She was still trying to understand what just happened and didn't know how to tell her sisters or Derrik. As she looked down at Oswin, she couldn't help but feel that she had put her cousin in this mess.

Phoebe burst into tears. She couldn't look at Oswin for another second. The more she thought about Corr and Oswin, the guiltier she felt. She knew she should stay and comfort Oswin, but she couldn't stay in the room a moment longer. She rushed out of the room and ran outside to get some air. Prue and Piper glared in the direction that Phoebe had left and shook her head disapprovingly. Derrik hadn't noticed Phoebe's dramatic exit. He was kneeling beside the surgical table so that he was eye-level with Oswin and holding both of her hands to prevent her from icing anything as the doctors prepped her for surgery. Once the doctors were prepared, the head doctor nodded at the two security guards, which proceeded to force Piper, Leo, Prue and Derrik out of the room.

Outside, Phoebe was leaning against the cold, brick wall with her face buried into her hands. Corr shimmered in beside her and leaned against the wall beside her.

"Look at what you did," he tormented. "It'd be a shame if she died. Killing your own cousin! You should be ashamed of yourself."

Phoebe turned and glared at him. Her eyes were red from crying and some of her makeup had smeared down her cheeks. "What did you do to Oswin!" she spat.

"I didn't do anything," said Corr, holding up his hands submissively. "You deserve all of the credit for this." Phoebe shook her head angrily and wiped her face with the back of her hands. She desperately wanted to attack him, to beat him to a bloody pulp, but she knew deep down that somehow the identity spell that Corr had cast would make any attack inflicted on him transfer over to Oswin.

"You evil son of a bitch," Phoebe hissed. She gave him one more look of disgust before walking back toward the entrance of the hospital. Corr grinned.

"That's it?" he taunted. "You're not even going to try to get your revenge? I was so looking forward to another ass-kicking." Without looking back, Phoebe gave him the finger and disappeared into the hospital. She wandered back through the corridor and stood in the waiting room of the ER. She noticed Prue, Piper, Leo and Derrik anxiously waiting outside the doors of the ER. Phoebe timidly approached them.

"What the hell happened to you?" Prue hissed. Phoebe backed away apprehensively.

"I'm sorry," said Phoebe softly. "I was a little overwhelmed."

"You're supposed to be here to support Oswin," Piper snapped. "Running away like you did just freaked her out more!"

"I said I'm sorry," said Phoebe. "What more do you want?" Derrik stepped in between them and attempted to break up the fight that was building between the three sisters.

"All right, I'm not really good at this 'middle-sister' role," said Derrik. "But this is not the time or the place for your bickering!" All three sisters looked away. "Follow me," Derrik continued. "We're going to find out which room they're going to be taking Oswin to when they're finished with her and we're going to take some time to calm down before she comes out of surgery." Prue nodded and took the lead. Derrik, Leo, Piper and Phoebe followed quickly behind.

Prue, Phoebe, Piper, Leo and Derrik sat impatiently in Oswin's hospital room. They had no idea how long they'd been waiting, but it seemed like an eternity. Phoebe was standing by the window, staring down at the busy streets below and contemplating how she was going to tell everyone what had happened. Derrik and Leo sat comfortable on the hospital bed in the center of the room, absently flipping through channels on the small, black-and-white TV across the room while Prue and Piper browsed through the articles in an old magazine.

A small commotion could be heard from the corridor as two nurses wheeled Oswin's gurney from the ER to her room. Derrik quickly stood up so the nurses could transfer Oswin from the gurney to the bed. All 5 stopped what they were doing and moved to Oswin's side.

"How is she?" asked Derrik. He ran his fingers through Oswin's hair and stared, lovingly down at her. She was just barely conscious and couldn't keep her eyes open.

"She's going to be fine," replied the head doctor as he walked into the room. The nurses quickly set Oswin up with an IV line and a monitor before leaving the room. The doctor shut the door behind them and pulled up a chair. He looked over Oswin's chart, then looked back up at her family.

"There was major blood loss when she got here," the doctor explained. "We were able to do a transfusion as well as suture both punctures." Phoebe stared down at Oswin, not paying attention to the doctor. "Luckily, there were no serious internal injuries. We have her on painkillers to keep her comfortable and if all goes well, she should be able to go home in a couple of days."

"Thank God," Derrik sighed.

"If you have any questions, feel free to come and find me at any time," said the doctor. "I'll leave you alone now."

"Thanks," said Prue. She, Piper and Leo joined Phoebe and Derrik in crowding around Oswin. The doctor left the room and closed the door to give them some privacy.

"Hey," said Oswin. Her voice was raspy, having just woken up. Everyone smiled down at her. "Am I going to live?" She smiled and looked up at Derrik. He smiled back at her and nodded.

"How are you feeling?" asked Derrik as he pulled up a chair beside the bed.

"I'm ok," replied Oswin. "The painkillers are definitely helping." She smiled at him and poked his nose with her finger.

"You should get some rest," said Derrik. Oswin nodded and allowed her eyes to close. The sedatives were definitely working.

"So, what happened exactly?" Prue asked. "We should come up with a story before the cops get here and start with the questions."

"I don't know," replied Derrik. "We were going to lie down for a nap and all of a sudden she couldn't breathe. It was like she's had the wind knocked out of her or something. Then, as soon as she was starting to feel better, she doubled over and started bleeding. I didn't see any demons or warlocks though."

"What about you?" asked Prue. She turned and looked over at Phoebe. Phoebe looked at Prue for a moment, then avoided making eye contact. "Do you know anything?"

"Um… " Said Phoebe uncertainly. "I… I don't know. Corr attacked me in the parlor."

"How does that have anything to do with Oswin?" asked Piper. She stared at Phoebe for a few seconds, then turned back toward Leo. "You should go check with Elders." Leo nodded and looked down at Oswin. He knew she was going to be all right, but he still didn't want to leave. Knowing that Prue was not the most patient woman in the world, he sighed and orbed out of the room without taking his eyes off of Oswin.

Prue looked over at Phoebe and sighed. "Are you ok?" she asked, finally realizing that she had been a little hard on Phoebe. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," replied Phoebe. "But I didn't hurt him either. I tried, but I don't think we're going to be able to kill him by force. We're going to have to vanquish this bastard." Prue nodded and looked back at Oswin.


	4. Chapter 4

Phoebe pulled Derrik into the corridor while Prue and Piper sat with Oswin. Looking at Phoebe, Derrik immediately knew she had something important to tell him.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Derrik," Phoebe started. She avoided making eye contact with him. Her bottom lip trembled slightly. "I'm the one who stabbed Oswin." With that said, she burst into tears and quickly buried her face into her hands. Derrik quickly moved to comfort Phoebe and looked around to make sure no one had heard.

"No you didn't," said Derrik. "I was with Oswin when it happened. You were downstairs."

"I know," Phoebe sobbed. "But I stabbed Corr with the fireplace poker at the same time." She grabbed a tissue from the cupboard and wiped her eyes. "But he was fine. It didn't even leave a mark. I think it has something to do with the spell he cast. When I attacked Corr, his injuries transferred to Oswin." Derrik pulled away and looked down at Phoebe, who still couldn't look him in the eye.

"That makes sense," said Derrik. "That would be why Leo can't heal Oswin. Technically, her injuries are Corr's." Phoebe nodded.

"Phoebe," said Derrik. He turned and looked back at Phoebe. She stopped and looked back at him. "It wasn't your fault. Corr knew you would attack him. What happened to Oswin was planned to make you feel guilty." Phoebe allowed herself to smile slightly.

"Thanks Derrik," she said gratefully. "Um… I'm kinda hungry. I'm going to run down to the canteen. Do you want anything?" Derrik shook his head.

"No, thanks," he replied. "You go ahead." Phoebe sighed and turned to walk toward the canteen. She wasn't really that hungry, but she didn't want to be around Prue and Piper when Derrik told her what had happened. Prue probably wouldn't have been as understanding as Derrik and Piper would have blamed Phoebe for what had happened. She really couldn't handle a guilt trip right now.

Derrik finished explaining to Prue and Piper what Phoebe had told him. She looked stunned for a moment, but then nodded in agreement. "That would make sense," said Prue. "Why Leo can't heal her, why her injuries didn't make sense…"

"Yeah, but go easy on Phoebe when she gets back," said Derrik. "She feels bad enough about it. She doesn't need to feel any worse."

"Why would I make her feel worse?" asked Prue. "She was trying to vanquish a demon. She had no idea it would backfire on Oswin."

"You're being very understanding," said Piper.

"Well, yeah," said Prue. "Why wouldn't I be?" Derrik shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

Oswin had been in the hospital for nearly a week. The healing process was going well and because there were no signs of internal damage, the doctors had no problems with her going home. Although it had only been a few days, Oswin struggled with not being allowed to go home. She had tried everything from begging to guilt trips to get her family to take her home and there had been many breakdowns for all of them. It was a relief in many ways to have her finally coming home.

"That was Derrik," Prue announced as she put the phone back in its cradle. "They're on their way home." Phoebe and Piper breathed a sigh of relief.

"How is she?" asked Phoebe. Prue sat at the kitchen table across from Phoebe and grabbed a muffin out of the basket in the centre of the table.

"From what I could hear," replied Prue as she peeled back the wrapper on the muffin. "She sounds fine. It sounded like she was dragging Derrik outside." Both of them smiled.

"We should clean up a bit," Phoebe suggested. "We don't want Oswin to do a whole lot for awhile." Prue nodded. They had at least twenty minutes until Derrik and Oswin would arrive, as traffic was quite heavy. Prue had left Oswin's Cherokee at the hospital for Oswin and Derrik to drive home in.

Phoebe began clearing the table and washed the dishes while Prue and Piper wandered around the house and put things away as she saw them. Once the house felt clean, Prue and Piper wandered back into the kitchen and helped Phoebe put the clean dishes away. They could both hear the sound of the front door open and close as well as Oswin and Derrik's voices.

Prue, Piper and Phoebe dropped what they were doing and ran to the front entrance. They nearly knocked Oswin over as they ran to hug her.

"I'm so glad you're home," said Phoebe excitedly. She had her arms tightly wrapped around Oswin and rested her chin on Oswin's shoulder.

"Me too," said Oswin. She had a huge grin spread across her face from the moment she walked out of the car. She had never been so happy to be back in the manor in her life.

Prue and Piper finally pulled away and smiled at Oswin. Phoebe, however, refused to let go. Prue rolled her eyes, but continued to smile.

"All right," Piper said finally, pulling Phoebe away. "Let the woman breathe."

"Sorry," said Phoebe. She pulled away from Oswin, but remained close by her side.

"Wow," said Oswin. "The manor is still in one piece. I was sure we'd be coming home to a disaster."

"I would so take offense to that if I wasn't so happy you're back," said Prue. Oswin grinned and looked back at Derrik. He took her by the hand and led her toward the stairs.

"You need to get some rest," he said as he dragged Oswin up the stairs. "You are not allowed to lift a finger for the next couple of weeks." Oswin rolled her eyes.

"I've been stuck in bed for long enough already," said Oswin. "I don't want to be treated any differently than normal. I just want to act like nothing ever happened."

"You wish," said Prue as she and Piper followed them upstairs. Phoebe watched her sisters walk up the stairs and breathed a sigh of relief. She had never been so relieved to have all of her family at home.


	5. Chapter 5

Oswin stood quietly in the kitchen, chopping random vegetables and placing them off to the side. Prue walked quickly through the kitchen, grabbed her keys, and walked into the laundry room without taking notice of Oswin. She stopped short and quickly turned back toward the kitchen. She stared at Oswin in disbelief, then down at the massive pile of chopped veggies. Oswin looked up and smiled.

"What are you doing?" Prue exclaimed. "You're supposed to be up in bed. The doctor told you not to put any stress on your body until you've healed." Oswin rolled her eyes and continued chopping.

"If I have to sit up in the room for another second, I swear I'm going to go crazy," replied Oswin. "Besides, does it really look like I'm stressing myself? It's not like I'm out jogging or anything." Prue set her keys down and sat pulled up a chair across from Oswin.

"How many people were you planning on feeding?" Prue asked with a smile as she stared at the mountain of veggies.

"I don't know," replied Oswin. "Honestly, I just wanted something to do. I hadn't even planned on a specific meal." She set her knife down and crossed her arms. "I guess we'll be having stir fry and veggies and dip for the next couple of weeks. I read Piper's cookbook." Prue nodded in agreement.

"How are you feeling?" Prue asked, ending the short period of silence between them.

"I'm all right," replied Oswin. "At least Corr is focused on us. If he were out fighting with other demons, I think I'd be in worse shape than this."

"Don't give him any ideas," said Prue seriously. Oswin laughed slightly.

"Where were you going?" asked Oswin. "You looked like you were in a hurry." Prue looked up at the clock and stood up abruptly.

"Oh my god," Prue gasped. "I'm late for work!" She grabbed her purse and keys and headed toward the dining room. "I'll be at 415. Call me if you need me."

"Have fun!" said Oswin sarcastically. She stared down at the mess that she had created and sighed. She turned and rummaged through a few cupboards and drawers to find a container to put the vegetables in.

Just as Prue neared the front door of the manor, Phoebe burst into the house. She had a huge smile spread across her face and could barely contain her excitement.

"You'll never guess what just happened to me!" Phoebe squealed. Prue stood and looked at her expectantly. "Come on, ask me what happened!"

"What…" Prue began.

"I got an A+ on my Psychology midterm," Phoebe interrupted, completely cutting Prue off.

"Congratulations!" said Prue happily. She embraced her sister in a tight hug. Phoebe's excitement was contagious. She couldn't help but smile with pride. "I am so proud of you." Phoebe pulled away.

"I'm proud of me too!" she beamed. "Where's Piper?"

"Already at P3." Prue replied.

"Where's Oswin? I've got to tell her."

"In the kitchen," replied Prue. "Making a mess." The smile on Phoebe's face was replaced with a look of concern.

"What is she doing out of bed?" Phoebe asked. "She's supposed to be taking it easy this week." She started walking toward the kitchen.

"I already talked to her," replied Prue. "She's fine as long as she doesn't decide to start fighting demons."

Before Phoebe had reached the end of the foyer, Corr shimmered in front of her. She gasped with surprise and stepped back. Without thinking, Prue shot her hand into the air and sent the grandfather clock flying toward Corr.

"Prue, don't!" Phoebe exclaimed. Corr fell to the floor, crushed under what was left of the grandfather clock. He stood up and kicked the remains of the clock to the side. He smiled and looked over at Prue.

"This is just to easy," he chuckled before shimmering back out of the room. Prue and Phoebe started running toward the kitchen. Phoebe immediately noticed Oswin lying lifelessly on the kitchen floor. Phoebe quickly ran to Oswin's side and moved her so that her head was resting comfortably on Phoebe's lap. Prue ran into the room a few seconds later and knelt beside her sisters.

"Is she ok?" Prue gasped.

"I think so," replied Phoebe. "I think you just knocked her out." Prue grabbed one of Oswin's hands and gently patted it.

"Wake up sweetie," she said softly. "Come on." Phoebe looked up at Prue.

"She's going to be fine," said Phoebe. "I'll call Derrik and have her take her upstairs to her room. You need to get to work. Remember, you're the best source on income in this family while Oswin's out of commission and P3's under construction. We don't want you to lose your job."

"Are you sure?" asked Prue. She continued to stare down at Oswin. Phoebe nodded.

"Positive," she replied. "Go on, get out of here." Prue smiled and stood up.

"Tell her I'm really sorry," said Prue as she headed for the dining room.

"I will," replied Phoebe. "Drive safe!" She listened as Prue ran through the house and slammed the front door behind her. Phoebe called Derrik and sat with Oswin until he arrived at the manor, running into the kitchen.

"What happened?" he asked, quickly kneeling next to Oswin.

"We had another run in with Corr," replied Phoebe as Derrik lifted Oswin into his arms. "Prue dropped the clock on him. Don't worry, she'll be fine. She's just been knocked out." Derrik carried Oswin out of the kitchen and into Oswin's bedroom. Phoebe ran up the stairs and into Oswin's bedroom just as Derrik set her on the bed.

"We really need to be careful," said Derrik as he sat next to Oswin. "We don't want the doctors to get suspicious and send the cops to question us again. It was hard enough coming up with an excuse for what happened to her last time." Phoebe nodded.

"I know," said Phoebe. "It wasn't intentional, just habit." Oswin groaned and looked up at Derrik.

"What happened?" she asked as she gingerly felt the back of her head.

"Corr," replied Phoebe. "Prue hit him with the clock. She's really sorry." She jumped onto the bed and squished in beside Oswin.

"Is he gone?" Oswin asked. Phoebe nodded and rested her head on Oswin's arm.

"Yeah," Phoebe replied. "I don't think he was here to attack us. He was just testing whether or not the identity spell still worked." Oswin slowly sat up and tried to get out of bed. Phoebe and Derrik prevented her from leaving.

"You need to stay in bed," said Derrik. "You're not healed yet."

"I'm fine," Oswin groaned. "Look, I'm no safer in bed than I am in the kitchen. I'm going to be affected by any attack on Corr no matter where I am. At least let me finish with dinner." Derrik sighed, defeated. He helped Oswin out of bed and walked downstairs with her, Phoebe following close behind.

The three of them wandered into the kitchen and all contributed in putting the vegetables away. Oswin began pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards and started preparing dinner to a Piper-supreme style.

With all of the excitement over, Phoebe suddenly remembered why she had come home in such a hurry. "Oh yeah!" she exclaimed. "You'll never guess what happened to me today."


	6. Chapter 6

"I really don't think this is a good idea," said Phoebe. She watched as her cousin moved swiftly behind the bar at P3. She'd been away for quite awhile and was trying to get on with her job as a bartender. Oswin placed two empty liquor bottles on the bar and looked at her sister.

"I told you," said Oswin. "I feel totally fine and the club definitely needs me, it's under construction anyway. I mean, we're almost completely out of vodka, tequila, and mineral water. This is why I don't go on vacation. Piper trusted me to look after the booze stocks." She disappeared into the supply room, leaving Phoebe sitting alone at the bar. "Does no one around here know how to do inventory?" She could hear Oswin grumble. She couldn't help but smile.

"Oswin, you have to promise you're going to take it easy tonight," said Phoebe as Oswin walked back into the room with an arm full of liquor bottles. She placed them on the liquor shelf behind the bar and looked back at Phoebe.

"I promise," she said with fake enthusiasm. "I'm just going to catch up on paperwork. I am the co-manager. I won't be serving or anything, the club is closed."

"Good," said Phoebe. She looked down at her watch. "Crap, I need to get to class. Call me if you need anything… or if anything happens." She began walking toward the exit. "Or if you see Corr… or."

"Phoebe!" Oswin snapped. "I'm going to be fine. I will call you if anything happens. Besides, Piper will be back soon." Phoebe smiled and ran up the stairs towards the front doors of the club. Oswin watched her cousin disappear around the corned and let out an aggravated sigh. She went back to cleaning up the empty bottles and replacing them with new ones.

At a bar across town, Corr sat at the bar of one of his favourite pubs. The place was pretty much a dive, with rats scurrying around on the floor and cobwebs in nearly every corner, but it was the type of place where many demons could stop and have a drink. The pub was actually run by a few well-known demons. Pretty well all of the customers were actually members of the underworld.

It was nearing midnight and Corr had had his fair share of alcohol. Normally, after the amount that he had consumed, he would have been a mess, but for some reason he wasn't feeling the least bit tipsy.

"What's with you?" asked the bartender. "That's your tenth drink tonight. Usually you're blitzed out of your mind by now." Corr shrugged and pounded back the shot that the bartender had given him.

"I don't know," replied Corr. "But this is ridiculous." He stood up and walked toward the exit; pushing a couple of drunk demons aside as he made his way outside. He lit up a cigarette and leaned against the wall. He looked at his watch and tried to think of something he could do with the rest of his night.

Prue and Phoebe sat quietly in the parlour, watching an old horror movie, which was being broadcast on one of the local channels. Phoebe was curled up on one side of the couch with a huge bowl of popcorn in her lap. Startled by the phone, Phoebe sent the popcorn flying into the air. Popcorn began raining down on her and Prue, creating a huge mess on the floor as well as the couch.

"This is why I don't like watching scary movies with you," Prue giggled. She got up and walked into the sitting room to get the phone. Phoebe blushed and ran to get the broom and dustpan.

"Hello?" said Prue as she held the phone to her ear.

"Uh… hi," said the person on the other end. "Prue."

"Piper," replied Prue. "What's the matter?"

"It's Oswin," she replied. "I don't know what the matter with her is."

"Is Oswin ok?" Prue asked suddenly. Phoebe ran to Prue side, with broom in hand, and tried listening to her phone conversation.

"Oh, she'll be fine," replied Piper. "But I don't think she should work any more tonight. You might want to come pick her up."

"We'll be there in two minutes!" Phoebe shouted as she ran to get Prue's car keys. Prue cringed, having had Phoebe just shout in her ear.

"We'll be right there," said Prue. "Take care of her until we get there."

"Will do," said Piper. Prue place the phone back in its cradle and followed Phoebe outside to her car. They crawled into the car and sped out of the driveway, nearly knocking over one of the garbage cans on the sidewalk.

Once they'd arrived at P3, they ran inside and over to the bar. Piper was tidying up paperwork. She looked over at them and smiled.

"Hey guys," she said. She put down the paperwork. "Follow me." They walked through the staff area and into Oswin's office. Oswin was sitting in her chair in a fit of drunken giggles. One of the bouncers was there, trying to keep her in the office until her family came to pick her up.

"Oh my god," Phoebe giggled. "Oswin! Have you been drinking?" She ran over to her sister and helped her to her feet.

"No," replied Oswin. Her stood, unsteady, for a moment, then collapsed to the floor. She exploded into another fit of giggles. The bouncer rolled his eyes and helped Phoebe pull Oswin off of the floor.

"She wasn't like this when I got here," said the bouncer. "And no one saw her have anything to drink besides mineral water." Phoebe pulled one of Oswin's arms around her neck to hold her up.

"This is my baby cousin," Oswin slurred. She pinched Phoebe's cheeks, making her lips pucker out. "Isn't she just the cutest thing you ever saw in your whole life?" She let go of Phoebe's face and nearly fell to the floor. Prue ran over to Oswin and wrapped Oswin's free arm around her shoulders so that both she and Phoebe were holding her up.

"I should get back to work," said Piper. "Good luck."

"Thanks for calling, Piper." said Phoebe. Piper nodded and disappeared around the corner.

"By Pipey," Oswin shouted. "She's so nice. She's gonna make a good manager-drink-giver person some day."

"Uh… right," said Phoebe. "We're going to take her home. Is there someone that can close the club tonight?"

"Piper and I will do it," replied the bouncer. "Don't worry about a thing."

"Thanks," said Phoebe. She and Prue started dragging Oswin out of the office and toward the back exit to avoid causing a scene.

"You know what's a funny word?" said Oswin. "Intoxicamated. No, intoxicatemed…." She continued repeating the word to herself as she was practically carried outside to Prue's car. Prue removed Oswin's arm from her shoulder and opened the back door of her car. The second Oswin crawled into the back seat, she passed out. Prue and Phoebe got into the car and drove Oswin back home.

"Come on, wake up sweetie," said Phoebe once they'd arrived home. She had crawled into the back seat with Oswin and was trying to get her to wake up. Oswin mumbled something inaudible and squinted up at her cousin. "Let's get you inside." She and Prue pulled Oswin out of the car and helped her up the steps to the house. As Prue fumbled with her key, Oswin moved quickly over to the side of the steps and puked in the flowerbed. Phoebe gently pulled Oswin's hair back and rubbed her shoulders until she was finished. Oswin stumbled back and followed her sisters into the house. Phoebe walked Oswin over to the couch and let her lay down while Prue retrieved a bucket.

"How are you feeling?" Phoebe asked softly.

"Terrible," replied Oswin. "What the hell happened?"

"Piper sent you home," replied Phoebe. "You were drunk." She grabbed a blanket and covered Oswin, who had started shaking uncontrollably from the sudden lack of alcohol in her system.

"I didn't have anything to drink," Oswin groaned. "Just a few bottles of mineral water. And I opened them, so I know they weren't spiked."

"I think this has more to do with what Corr had to drink tonight than what you had," said Prue as she walked into the room. She placed the bucket on the floor by Oswin's head and sat on the coffee table across from the couch. "I think the spell might be progressing."

"Great," Oswin sighed. "How am I supposed to do anything now if he's going to go and get corked out of his mind at any given time?" Prue shrugged.

"We're just going to have to find a way to vanquish him," replied Phoebe. "And soon."


	7. Chapter 7

"This is hopeless!" Phoebe grumbled as she threw a crumpled piece of paper on the floor. "There is no reversal spell in here anywhere."

Prue grabbed the paper off of the floor and placed it in a nearby garbage can. She sat next to Phoebe on the sofa and pulled the Book of Shadows away from her. "Maybe we don't need a reversal," said Prue. "Let's just get rid of him."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Phoebe asked. "Anything we try on Corr affects Oswin instead."

Prue thought for a moment, then turned through the pages of the Book of Shadows and stopped on the page that described Corr. "There's a vanquish in here," she said. "We can try vanquishing him."

"And we'll end up vanquishing Oswin instead," said Phoebe. "Bad idea." She stood up suddenly and left the attic, pushing passed Oswin on her way out. Oswin looked back at Phoebe, then over at Prue.

"What's her problem?" Oswin whispered.

"I think it's 'that time of the month'," replied Prue. "She's a little cranky." Oswin nodded and sat next to Prue. "Which is actually quite weird," Prue continued. "Usually you're the moody one around this time."

"Hey!" said Oswin. She was obviously offended by Prue's last comment. Prue looked at her and raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Yeah, ok," she admit. "I usually get pretty snippy, but I feel fine. I'm not bloating or craving chocolate or anything. I love it."

"Not fair," said Prue. She handed the NoteBook of Shadows to Oswin and stood up. "I need to go out for a bit. Can you see if you can find any way to either reverse the spell or get rid of Corr?" Oswin nodded.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the underworld, Corr was sitting with a few friends and playing a game of Poker.

"There's something different about you man," said one of Corr's demon friends. "I don't know what it is."

"You know what," Corr snapped. "Maybe you should just get off of my back!" All of the demons looked at Corr questioningly.

"Geeze, calm down!" said another demon sarcastically. "Take a Midol or something!" Corr glared at him. He threw his cards on the table and began walking away.

"I really don't need to deal with this right now," Corr snapped, close to crying. "I'm going out for ice cream, or chocolate, or something. You guys suck!" He ran through one of the caves and disappeared. All of the demons shrugged and looked over at where Corr had disappeared.

"What's his problem?" asked one of the demons. The others shrugged and continued with their game.

Corr shimmered outside of the Halliwell Manor and burst through the door. He ran passed Phoebe and Prue and up the stairs toward the attic. Phoebe dropped her mug of tea and ran after him with Prue close behind. Corr ran into the attic and stopped when he saw Oswin holding the NoteBook of Shadows.

"What have you done to me?" he said, trying his hardest not to cry. Oswin dropped the notebook and stood up. Corr leapt at the real Book, which sent him flying in the opposite direction. He hit one of the walls and fell to the floor, which made Oswin fall backwards onto the sofa, the wind being knocked out of her, holding her arm as if she had gotten the shock from the Book.

Corr stood up just as Prue and Phoebe ran into the room. He looked over at them angrily before shimmering back out of the room.

"What the hell?" asked Prue.

"PMS demon," replied Oswin with a smile. "I think I have an idea. Get Piper here."


	8. Chapter 8

Prue and Phoebe followed close behind Oswin as she ran up the stairs towards the attic. She ran over to the NoteBook of Shadows and flipped through the pages until she reached the page about Corr.

"Can you stop for a second and explain this plan?" asked Prue. She watched as Oswin began tossing a few ingredients into the antique potion pot.

"I'm making the vanquishing potion for Corr," replied Oswin. "But we're going to use it on me." Prue and Phoebe looked at her in disbelief. As Oswin reached over to grab some Burdock root Prue quickly intercepted her and pulled it away.

"We are not going to use a vanquishing potion on you," said Prue. She held the Burdock root out of reach as Oswin tried to grab it. Oswin stepped back and crossed her arms.

"Nothing is going to happen to me," said Oswin. "Phoebe spilled a vanquishing potion on herself before and nothing happened. Remember?"

"That was a far weaker potion than this one," said Phoebe as she tapped the pages of the Book of Shadows to emphasize her argument. "And it was designed for that specific demon. This is a generic vanquishing potion, which means it doesn't just vanquish Corr. What if we end up vanquishing you?"

"We're vanquishing Oswin?" Piper said as she came in. "No way."

"Think about it," Oswin explained. "Anything that happens to him, happens to me and anything that happens to me, happens to him. If we vanquish me, we will vanquish him."

"But what if it doesn't work that way?" asked Phoebe. "We are not going to take that chance!" She stared at her cousin seriously. "You can't ask us to do this."

"There's no other way," said Oswin. "We have to vanquish him before he does something to kill me." All three of her cousins were left speechless. They all wanted to argue with Oswin, but she was right. Corr could easily do something to himself that would inevitably kill Oswin and neither Prue nor Phoebe nor Piper would be able to stop him.

"We can't just jump into this," said Prue. "We should at least do some kind of test first." Oswin watched her questioningly as Prue began looking around. Prue began rummaging through an old chest and retrieved an old athame. She held it up and held out her hand. "Give me your hand."

"No way," said Oswin. She put both her hands behind her back and stared at Prue in disbelief.

"Don't be such a baby," said Prue. She pulled one of Oswin's hands out from behind her back. "I can't believe you're ready to vanquish yourself, but you're afraid of a little cut." She quickly ran the blade across the palm of Oswin's hand before she could protest. Oswin pulled her hand away and stared at her uninjured palm.

"It worked," said Oswin. She held her hand up for the sisters to see. "Shall we do this then?" She grabbed the Burdock root and tossed it into potion pot.

Corr was sitting in the pub on his favourite stool near the bar. He cried out suddenly and looked down at his bloody palm. "That bitch!" he cursed. He clenched his fist and looked around for some way to get back at the Charmed Ones. Spotting a large demon near the back of the bar, Corr smiled and began walking toward him. The demon glared at Corr as he approached his table.

"What do you want?" he grumbled.

Corr started insulting the demon, trying his hardest to make him angry. He kept at it until the demon got up from his seat and walked over to Corr. Corr stepped back instinctively, all the while continuing to berate the demon. The demon grabbed Corr by the neck and pushed him up against the wall.

"Any last requests?" hissed the demon. Corr smiled evilly back at the demon and nodded his head to the best of his ability considering the position he was in.

"Yeah," he gasped. "Yo' mama!"

Oswin dropped some of the potion ingredients on the floor and began clawing at her neck, desperately trying to catch her breath.

"Oswin!" Piper exclaimed. She watched as Prue ran to help Oswin. Not knowing what was actually happening, Prue had no idea what to do to help.

"Someone is choking Corr," said Phoebe suddenly. She pointed to the red finger marks appearing around Oswin's neck. Oswin fell to her knees, continuing to try to pull off the invisible hands that were preventing her from breathing. "Do something!" Phoebe sobbed.

Prue looked over at the potion pot and quickly threw in the last of the ingredients. The potion began bubbling and emitting a large green cloud of smoke. Knowing she had no other options, Prue pushed the potion pot to the floor. The potion splattered onto the floor around Oswin's feet and exploded around her. The whole attic filled with smoke, preventing Prue and Phoebe from seeing Oswin. As the smoke began to clear, Prue and Phoebe stood silently, waiting to see if the potion had worked. Finally, they could see Oswin, laying lifelessly on the attic floor.


	9. Chapter 9

The demon wrapped both of his hands tightly around Corr's neck, intent on killing him. Corr continued to smile evilly at him, which aggravated him even more. The smile suddenly faded from Corr's face as he was engulfed in flames and a green cloud of smoke. The demon let go of him and stepped back, confused. Corr dropped to his knees and screamed as he was devoured by the flames. The demon looked down at the scorch marks by his feet, then over at his friends. He turned to the crowd that was staring at him and looked at them threateningly.

"Let that be a lesson to the rest of you," he growled before returning to his seat.

"Oswin?" whimpered Phoebe as she knelt beside her lifeless sister. "Come on, wake up."

Prue knelt beside them and pulled Oswin close. She ran her hands through Oswin's hair and fought the urge to cry.

"What have I done?" she said, almost inaudibly. She barely noticed Phoebe completely break down beside her; she was too focused on Oswin.

Oswin gasped for breath suddenly, startling all three of the sisters. She looked up at Prue questioningly and sat up.

"Did it work?" Oswin asked. Phoebe nodded and embraced her tightly. Oswin smiled and struggled to breathe as Phoebe and Piper squeezed her tightly.

"Guys," Oswin gasped. "I can't breathe."

"Oh my god!" Phoebe choked. "Prue it didn't work." Prue hugged Oswin and smiled.

"Yes it did," said Prue as she rolled her eyes and Piper laughed. "She couldn't breathe because you were squeezing her too hard." Phoebe sighed with relief and joined in hugging with two older sisters.

Later that night, Oswin crawled into bed and wrapped herself with her blankets. Derrik walked in, smiling at her.

"Hey," said Oswin happily.

"Hey," replied Derrik. He crawled into bed next to Oswin. "I just heard about Corr. Nice work."

"Thanks," said Oswin. "Let's just hope that it never happens again. I guess we need up security around the Book of Shadows and the NoteBook of Shadows from now on." Derrik nodded.

"I would suggest putting up a few more protection spells up in the attic," said Derrik. "For added protection."

"Consider it done," said Oswin. She relaxed against her pillow and closed her eyes.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Derrik. He leaned over the side of the bed and rummaged through the drawer of the nearby nightstand. He extracted a box of nasal strips and attached it to his nose. Oswin smiled.

"What made you change your mind?" asked Oswin.

"I figured you've been through enough lately," said Derrik. "The least I can do is let you get a good night's sleep." Oswin hugged Derrik tightly and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," she said appreciatively.

Just as the two of them began to fall asleep, they could hear the faint sound of snoring coming from Phoebe's room. Oswin rolled her eyes and pushed her pillow over her head to drown out the noise. Derrik smiled and grabbed his box of nasal strips.

"Get some rest," said Derrik. "I'll fix it." Oswin watched as Derrik left the room to give Phoebe one of his nasal strips. She closed her eyes and, for the first time in months, was able to get a decent, uninterrupted sleep.


End file.
